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Sunday, April 30, 2006

Home from Disneyland...with very sore feet and a much leaner wallet, we did have a good time. We spent 4 days at Disneyland/California Adventure, a day at Universal Studios, a day in San Diego and Sea World and a day looking around Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I took hardly anystill pictures but did about 5 hours worth of movies. The weather was not great, overcast and cool and some rain the whole week. We wore long pants and sweaters everyday. And of course, we heard the weather here in Western Washington was beautiful and sunny and warm. Figures!!! It's a gorgeous day here today in Lacey. I can hardly believe how much the plants and grass have grown in the week we were gone...the apple trees are fully in bloom, the irises are starting to bloom (a week ago there were not even any buds) and the wisteria is ready to pop open!!

I had a delightful two hours spent in Needlepoints in Garden Grove. I found several patterns that I had never seen before, and I was able to get 4 of the charms for the Shepherd's Bush Christmas ornaments Von and I are working on. (Von, they were $9.00 each! But so pretty!) I picked up a couple of Just Nan patterns and embellishments, Jingle Bell Tree Farm by Victoria Sampler, a Hardanger angel, and a pattern called Secret Garden...it's a needlebook by Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches...I think that there was a stitch along for this somewhere at one time, I need to do some research and try to find the notes.

It's back to work tomorrow, I am in the middle of unpacking, doing laundry and getting the house back in order. Amy and Alana should be over soon...I missed the baby so much!!!

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Well, I am a little slow in getting the rest of my stash report posted. It's almost old business now, after three weeks! LOL! These are my last two pictures to share. I picked up an Emie Bishop leaflet that is a reprint of four of her Christmas Hearts patterns, two pieces of 18 ct. Mono canvas (light blue and white); and three books, A-Z of Embroidery stitches, Gifts of Love (Cross stitch patterns by Kooler Design Studio) and a book on Ruskin Lace, a technique I have been wanting to learn for quite a while.

We are leaving tomorrow (Friday) morning for Disneyland!!! We are so excited! We have 4 day passes for Disneyland, one day at Universal Studios, one day at Sea World, and then a day to do some other little fun things we have been wanting to do!! I'll post a report when we return on the 30th! Hope you all have a great week!

Saturday, April 15, 2006

I realized this afternoon it was time for another installment of my stash report from the Northwest Stitcher's gathering a couple weeks ago...so here we go!!!

In the first picture I have a nifty little thing called a Tacky Bob (Box fOr Beads). It is an acrylic box with a tacky surface on the inside that you can pour beads onto, and it holds them in place until you pick them up with your needle...very cool. It shuts tight so it can travel, and even has a magnetic needle holder inside. Then I got a couple of snow flake glass treasures by Mill Hill, and two Caron Waterlilies, one called Fir, and one called Slate. I also found some metal snowflakes at the paper store that are intended for scrapbooking, but I plan on using them in stitching!!! In the second picture are my Victoria Sampler goodies, Summer Garden Sampler, Spring Garden Sampler, with Acc Pac, and the Washington Heart of America...

I stil have several more pictures to share, so I will upload those in a day or two...We are leaving Friday morning for Disneyland (Horray!), and will be in California for 8 days, so I won't be able to post anything for over a week...I'll try and have the stash report done before we leave!

We have nasty yucky weather today in Western Washington, rainy, windy and cold..I am sure that it has put the real kabosh on all the planned community Easter Egg hunts today. But I remember it did the same thing last year the day before Easter. My whole extended family will be meeting at my mom and dad's house for dinner and birthday celebrations for all the winter and spring birthdays in the family. 9 of them I think. Then the next two weeks I am on vacation from work...I am taking a 2 day college course in using Microsoft Access on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday is the annual doctor visits (body and eyes) and then Thursday we pack to leave early Friday! Even tho it's vacation, it will still be a busy week!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Well, it's time to give a stash report on everything that I found while on my Northwest Stitcher's Get Away last week. I have lots of pictures, so thought I would just do a couple each post. I can draw out the suspense that way!! HA!

So my first picture is my Lizzie Kate findings. I am not normally a huge Lizzie Kate fan, but I found these Snippet designs to be very cute and small, in other words, quick to stitch!!! They include Bless the Baby, Cross Stitcher in Residence, Follow Your Heart, First Christmas, Life's a Stitch, and a pattern pack called Tiny Tidings VI (Christmas designs). I thought these were sweet, and I am looking forward especially stitching Life's a Stitch, and Cross Stitcher in Residence for my stitching corner!!!

Then I found some small Just Nan pieces...Heartfelt (for Whimsey Frames), Garden Maze, Porcelain Nosegay, and Snow Faces, Ice Garden and Small Delights. I also picked up a Whimsey Frame to go with the Snow Faces pattern. I plan to do that one for my niece for Christmas, as she collects snowmen.

So that is all this time...I have much more to share! I have also finally gotten some of my unframed projects framed, so I will get pictures of those posted soon too!

Saturday, April 08, 2006

After many hours of work and organizing, I have a finished corner of the world that is all mine for stitching. I am pleased with the way this temporary solution to needing my space has turned out, and I think it will be very condusive to many happy hours of designing and stitching.....

In all my organizing I even framed 5 pieces that have been sitting in my closet for years....Ill post pix soon. We are babysitting Alana overnight tonight, Amy's birthday is tomorrow, so we are keeping the baby so she can have a good night's sleep!

Friday, April 07, 2006

No pictures today, and no fancy title, but I wanted to get a post up anyway. I still intend on taking pictures of my stash enhancement from last weekend, but have been so busy that it has been the last thing on my list to do. Hopefully this weekend.

After a long talk with my friend and mentor, Thea, last weekend, we came to the conclusion that I really needed a corner, place, chair, that was mine and mine alone in this house of ours. It seems that I always share my stitching place, and it has hindered my getting any designing and stitching done, because it was too much emotional work to chase away the person occupying the space I wanted to use, or there was too much "stuff" from other people that would need to be cleaned up before I could even sit down. When I am tired, that "work" was more than I was able to handle, so I would just drift off to find something where I could be alone, usually the bathtub!!! I spent some time talking to John and Lizzie about it, and then last night began cleaning up a corner of the computer room, clearing the clutter, moving furniture a bit and trying to make it a comfortable and inviting place for ME! I'm not finished yet, things in the rest of the room are still in disarray, and since I am such a visual person, I know I will never be able to work if the space I am in is messy. This may take a few more hours, LOL! I will keep you posted with my progress and some pix when I am done!!!

Sunday, April 02, 2006

I have been home for only about an hour, but wanted to post and let everyone know what a wonderful time we had at our Northwest Stitcher's get together in Bellevue, Washington, this weekend. I joined Von, Thea, Nancy, Jo-Celle and Kathryn for a weekend of stash shopping, eating, talking, shopping, visiting, eating, shopping, oh, and did I mention talking???? I have come home with three new friends, (having already known Von and Thea for many years), and an empty wallet, but boy did we have fun!!! Here is a picture of us having dinner at the Red Robin in downtown Bellevue.... left to right is Nancy, Von, me, Thea, Jo-Celle, and Kathryn. We are all cyberstitchers from Thea's cyberclasses, which is where most of us (except for Von and I and Thea) met. What a special time we had sharing each other's lives and truly becoming friends. We have already decided we need to do it again, soon!!!

I drove up to Bellevue on Friday evening after work. Von had arrived earlier in the day from Kennewick, so was able to pick up Thea at the Victoria Clipper pier in downtown Seattle. We met up at the motel, and since Thea needed some food, we headed out for a grocery store..and found the biggest organic food store I have ever seen. It was huge! We spent a long time wandering the aisles looking at all the new brands and prepared foods!!! It was incredible!!! We then headed back to the motel, and Von and I stayed up very late visiting and catching up with our lives!!! Saturday morning Thea and I got up very early and at 7 AM headed out for breakfast at the Marriot Courtyard, a yummy breakfast buffet, and visited for over two hours. When we got back to the motel, Von was up and dressed and waiting for us, and we headed over to Cross Stitch Corner, the LNS, where we met up with Jo-Celle, Nancy and Kathryn, who had all arrived in town that morning. After a round of hellos and hugs, we got down to some serious stash shopping, having a wonderful time. I think we spent over an hour shopping there. We then all loaded into Von's Expedition and headed out to Issaquah for more shopping at Thread Needle Street. Another hour of serious stash shopping!!! By then we were all famished, so we had a wonderful lunch at a local seafood restaurant. We visited a fabric store and a chocolate factory before heading back to Bellevue and the motel. We all landed in Von's and my room for more visiting. After several hours, we realized we were hungry again, so once again we loaded into Von's car and headed for the mall to eat. We ended up at Red Robin, picture above. After dinner, we all headed for our own rooms and bed. I don't know about the others, but Von and I stayed up until nearly midnight again talking! Then this morning I was up early again, and had the pleasure of driving Thea back down to catch the 7:30 AM clipper back to Victoria! And then I came back to the room, and the 5 remaining of us went to breakfast at the Marriott again. Then Jo-Celle, Kathryn and Nancy headed for home, and Von and I went back to near the mall for more shopping!!! We found a couple of incredible stores and spent a very pleasurable 3 hours shopping and visiting. Then it was time for me to head for the airport to pick up my parents, who were flying home from Arizona. Whew, busy weekend, but what a great time we had!!! Tomorrow I will try and get a couple pictures together of some of the treasures I found...like all the yards of silk ribbon I found at the paper store!!!!